


Albus Potter and the Identity Crisis

by facingthenorthwind (spacegandalf)



Series: losers who deserve each other [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Minor Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 22:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15349689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacegandalf/pseuds/facingthenorthwind
Summary: In which Albus has an identity crisis about a possible interest that could threaten his entire perception of self and also discovers he's gay.





	Albus Potter and the Identity Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> Borsi-Crenwick is a reference to Corsi/Fenwick in hockey; I just thought they were already wizardy-sounding names, tbh.

The first time Albus noticed James's quidditch posters ( _noticed_ them, stopped in the corridor and stared through his open door -- it was impossible not to know they were there, obviously, his room was full of them) he thought maybe he was dying.

It wasn't a _logical_ thought. It wasn't even an unreasonable thought with some kind of logical progression from quidditch posters to death, something like quidditch posters ⇒ a distinctly uncomfortable feeling ⇒ illness ⇒ death. Well, after the fact he could draw up that logical progression, but that wasn't what was happening in the moment.

Albus Severus Potter just knew it was an essential characteristic, the foundation of his identity and sense of self, that he hated quidditch.

Sure, it had quite a lot to do with the fact that he couldn't stay on a broom long enough to even _attempt_ playing quidditch. Also of consideration was that his mother had been a professional quidditch player; his brother loved quidditch and was on the Ravenclaw quidditch team; and his dad also avidly followed it. Family gatherings were not complete without some incredibly dull conversation about league standings or Borsi-Crenwick statistics with all of the uncles getting in on it.

It was _the worst_.

Even Charlie, widely recognised by pretty much everyone as The Coolest Uncle, was mad for quidditch. Apparently he could've played for England if he'd not gone to work with dragons instead. Albus could not find a single person who was free of this curse.

And maybe it was a curse. And maybe it was catching. Maybe, finally, he was becoming A Quidditch, and there was nothing he could do! He would _die_ , both metaphorically and also physically because it had been agreed previously that he should probably not try to fly a broom, as it was a safety hazard.

So, obviously, he had to try really hard not to look at James's quidditch posters, scowling every time he passed James's room and trying to resist the temptation to sneak just one peak. 

Honestly, discovering he was actually gay was a relief. He was not going to morph into some sport-obsessed wanker like the rest of his family. It was just that quidditch players, kind of by definition, were quite fit. (Except for the ones that copped so many bludgers they didn't have a nose anymore, but James didn't have posters of them, obviously.)

That discovery didn't actually fix all his problems, though. He still wanted to look at the quidditch posters and he still hated the fact that he _wanted to look at quidditch posters_. So when, on an aimless meander through Diagon Alley one August afternoon, he came across a Floo Fighters poster in Royceston’s Records and felt the same sort of feelings (look, he wasn't going to describe them, that's absolutely mortifying) as he did when he looked through James's door, he bought it.

He'd never listened to the Floo Fighters before, but that didn't matter.

... It turns out that kind of _did_ matter.

His mum and dad were thrilled that he was showing an interest in something that wasn't being a grump. He would argue he also showed interest in Scorpius Malfoy, his best friend, but he still hadn't had him over for the holidays because he did not want to deal with that kind of drama. What kind of a person had a _school nemesis_? And why was that kind of person his dad?

His mum and dad were so thrilled, in fact, that they bought him a Floo Fighters record for his birthday and also another one for Christmas. Two years in a row. 

They were alright, he supposed. He didn't really have any strong feelings about their musical capabilities or lyrical composition. The lead singer was _very_ fit, and if nothing else, the last record he'd received had featured a commemorative tour poster were he was wearing extremely tight trousers. 

The problem -- the real one -- came when his parents sat on his bed and presented him with tickets: tickets to see the Floo Fighters in concert. And sure, it's not like his parents were short on money: his dad inherited a small fortune and his mother was a former professional quidditch player, but all the same… he felt awful keeping up this charade. 

"I, uh," he began, not sure what to say. His parents' faces fell in unison as he was clearly not as excited as they had been envisioning. "I'm not... actually... a big fan of theirs?"

"You're not?" Ginny said, pointedly looking at the four Floo Fighters posters he had on the walls and the stack of records on the bookshelf.

"No? I, uh, I'd never actually listened to them before you gave me that first record for my birthday."

"But you had that poster, that's why we got you the record," Harry said, frowning in confusion.

"The... the lead singer's really fit," Albus admitted, his hands twisting in his lap as he looked anywhere but at his parents.

"Oh." That was Ginny, who didn't sound disappointed or angry, at least. (A week later Ginny would leave a clipping on his bed from some rag that proclaimed "GINNY WEASLEY CAUGHT KISSING GAL PAL", dated July 1999. Albus was glad she'd not tried to actually talk to him about it, because the concept of his mum kissing someone who wasn't his dad weirded him out. He knew both of them had dated other people, because that's how people usually worked — it was just that they were his _parents_.)

"Uh, sorry about that, then, with the tickets," Harry said. He didn't sound angry either, but he did sound a sight more awkward than his mum. 

"S'alright," Albus said, shrugging. "I just don't want you to waste the money on it when you could return them, you know?"

Ginny embraced him and kissed the top of his head. "You're so sweet, Al," she said, and after giving him a squeeze his parents both left the room.

Much, much later, the lead singer of the Floo Fighters watched him snogging Scorpius Malfoy. It wasn't like he was going to take them _down_ , was it?


End file.
